AboveTopSecret.com is a Government COINTELPRO Disinformation Operation

AboveTopSecret.com is a professional "COINTELPRO" operation using secret black-operations
funding to publish and promote disinformation as part of the U.S. Government's agenda to deflect and discredit conspiracy theorists.

At least, that seems to be the popular rumor that has circulated about us for some time, and has gained some recent traction.

These "AboveTopSecret.com COINTELPRO" rumors tend to center around only one piece of content, CatHerder's analysis of the 757 at the
Pentagon: A Boeing 757 Struck the Pentagon. His post has evolved into our most popular
piece of content, and very often is at the center of debate on this issue on conspiracy theory websites across the web.

Because that one post debunks a popular conspiracy theory, the knee-jerk reaction of many is that "AboveTopSecret.com must be COINTELPRO!"

The real issue here is the truth, and finding a path that leads us to it. No one ever discovers any truths by sticking to one side of an issue.
Through a thoughtful, balanced, and sometimes critical analysis of "conspiracy theory" topics, we hope to be able to toss aside that which is not
a conspiracy, so that energies can be spent on that which is.

However, it's generally more fun to criticize and create wild rumors. It takes less imagination to jump on a bandwagon and say "me too" than it
does to actually contribute something. Tossing around words like COINTELPRO, disinformation, government agents, shill, and the like can indeed provide
hours of entertainment for those who envy what we've accomplished.

Those envious who would criticize us, conveniently avoid some of our most stellar contributions to the collective knowledge base on our topics:

I would humbly submit a thread that I started up a few months ago. To Arms! To Arms A Call for all Americans! Time to overthrow the Goverment!
An analysis of how the Legislative as well as the Judicial arms of our goverment are no longer for the people of the US but is a goverment for the
powerful by the powerful.
It is also a reminder to the US citizen that our Constituion calls for citizens to throw off such goverments and to replace it with one that does
protect the citizen.

Too bad we can't link to lilblam's work in RATS about the connectivity of various corporations. Remember, the thread where thelibra eventually
insinuated he/she was threatened in some way and made the mysterious statement along the lines of "I won't be looking into this issue anymore."
But then wouldn't tell any of us what happened or why he/she was dropping the research?

Maybe we should bring that one out of RATS!

P.S. the reason i think you should bring it out of RATS is it is a fine example of how the members of this board were trying to encourage research
work but thelibra refused to continue. the impetus to stop came from OUTSIDE this board. Maybe thelibra will now tells us the truth.

Got it for you Val.....took me a second to realize that you weren't talking about liliblam....rather thelibra, who by the way has decided to let go
of his participation in this thread for valid reasons...assumedly.

The link works for me.....I say if people really want to see it, they should pay the points for it......it is RATS worthy material and should stay in
RATS....

I've known this for a long time, but what no one realizes is that me, and other members like me, are taking down the system from within! We post on
these government servers, all the time sowing the seeds of discontent. Discontent for the falsehoods that governments promote! My only hope is that
the CIA IT guys at Langely will read one of my posts, and wake up! Start the revolution! If I can only reach one of you guys, I will feel my
mission is complete. This ATS that you created will be your undoing! It has grown out of government control! People are really starting to
'Deny Ignorance'!

Oh the irony! A site created for disinformation, has become a site that promotes enlightenment!

Originally posted by SkepticOverlordAboveTopSecret.com is a professional "COINTELPRO" operation using secret black-operations
funding to publish and promote disinformation as part of the U.S. Government's agenda to deflect and discredit conspiracy theorists.

At least, that seems to be the popular rumor that has circulated about us for some time, and has gained some recent traction.

We would be lying to ourselves if we were to believe some were not here as observers, and some as obstructors, and still others as .. .

Teachers/students

I'm convinced some are here trying to derail certain ventures into our quest for truth. I'm convinced if we want the truth bad enough, we can
overcome the obsticles they through in our path.

Anyone who even so much as casually browses through that forum and concludes that ATS is somehow a U.S. government front either needs glasses or
reading lessons.

While I credit U.S. information warriors with being quite devious -- I suspect that much "anti-U.S." propaganda actually originates form the U.S.
government, for example -- I am incapable of imagining how the all-out free-for-all in the War on Terrorism forum could be rationally associated with
any form of COINTELPRO operation.

Then again, the critics of ATS have been quite creative, and I'm sure they'll find a way.

And the ironic part: I'm actually curious about that -- to a point.

I must admit that in a certain blog related to this whole drama-fest I have found someone who's more than a match for me in terms of shear volume.

I pray that the critics of ATS will find more concise and credible ways to promote their theories.

P.S. And yes, I think it's wise to assume that there are possibly agents of certain governments pushing agendas on ATS. I suspect, however that
they are *not* who we would suspect. Let's assume they aren't stupid, and be mindful of those who would seek to manipulate us.

Originally posted by MemoryShock
Got it for you Val.....took me a second to realize that you weren't talking about liliblam....rather thelibra, who by the way has decided to let go
of his participation in this thread for valid reasons...assumedly.

The link works for me.....I say if people really want to see it, they should pay the points for it......it is RATS worthy material and should stay in
RATS....

Here is a good one.....A basic principle. Follow the money and highlight what it does.

THANK YOU! Both for finding the link as well as correcting me on the member it was. I really enjoyed that thread. And you are right also, that
members who would like to see some fine research and encouragement from the member body should pay for a month's access (I think it is 250 points to
get access) to RATS and view that thread.

cointelpro, the real and since renamed office, was set up to splinter groups which opposed the government. they would mostly do this by
infiltration.

that is, a guy would join, say, the black panthers, and then, through well-known techniques(like
the delphi technique. another technique is for agents to gain the trust of members of
the group, once 'in', they would go to work polarising some internal issue, and causing dissent within, until eventually, the group would splinter
into smaller groups or simply dissolve.

here's another good reference to a modern 'cointelpro' operation, and a good thing to know,
'death by medicine'.

I really enjoy ATS. I spend nearly my whole day here. This is a great place for me to show off the things I do with PhotoShop. I get to talk about my
favorite medium, Comics. I get to talk about really interesting things such as space exploration and the paranormal. What I really like is that my
words are read by thousands of people. Where else can I get that attention with out being arrested

That being said I'd like to play devil's advocate.

If I was an oppressive person with power within the government, NWO, Reptilian race, or whoever you believe the real bad guys are, I think I would
make an "ATS" website.

What better way to control the paranoid and the conspiracy minded?

If I needed a medium to push disinformation on those who would spot it otherwise I would create a giant forum for people to feel like they have a more
open mind than the normal population. I would allow them to talk about anything they wanted, even my group of oppressors. I would pay close attention
to what they have to say. Then when a few of them are on to something I would use a sock puppet to throw them off the trail.
30 or so years ago governments would try their best to prevent information leaks. If information did leak out their damage control would be so
terrible that the press would be all over it and the news would find out what dirty things the government has done.
Today the strategy could be that when information gets out you simply go on the big 'ol net and feed misinformation to the public. There are so many
people online and they believe in online news more than they do the news they see on cable television.

I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I'm just saying what I would do if I was the evil guy taking over the world.

Let me first say that I love this place, but I want to play devil's advocate here for a minute.

1) Wouldn't an accusation like this actually help ATS? Looks to me like free advertising.

2) If ATS really was a "Government COINTELPRO Disinformation Operation" what better was to deflect further scrutiny than by publicizing this
accusation on the ATS website. It's called reverse psychology.

We have here a collection of people who go out of their way to collect information and present it, along with their own impressions. Many threads
have the benefit of logical, critical analysis that is completely lacking in any other news media. We're interactive here.....

So, if you're here crunching numbers and truly taking an as objective as possible eye to the information you ingest, then the fact that you run into
disinformation is irrelevant. You should be able to recognize it and respond in kind....'in kind' being the state of tossing in your own valid,
cool-headed response to offset that which is irrelevant.

Seriously......disinformation is just there to distract you. If you know what you're looking for, noone can dissuade you from that.

This thread was created to highlight excellent examples of ATS collaboration.....let's not get distracted and turn it into another speculative
excercise on the motivations of a website that is in actuality a composite of each and every one of us.........

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